#Autumn in the #urbanwilderness. The #egrets were squabbling for hours today, but the #kingfishers seem to run the show in this #pond. The #wetland is full of big #fish thanks to the #coloradoriver back flowing in recent floods. #cleanwaterislife #circleacres #restoration #brownfieldremediation #urbannature #austin #montopolis #nofilter

Please consider supporting our work this #givingtuesday as we continue to convert a former contaminated landfill and illegal dump site to a thriving nature preserve. We are well on our way to restoring one of Montopolis’s most polluted tracks to one of the most biodiverse 10 acres in Austin. www.ecology-action.org/donate #circleacres #restoration #brownfieldremediation #rhizomecollective #bioremediation #ecologyactionatx

#Secondspring has officially begun in #Austin. Tons of stuff #inbloom right now at #circleacres. The rains have returned bringing with them #verdent foliage , showy #flowers, lots of #fungi, and #pollinators galore. #urbannature #urbanforest #restoration #conservation #nativeplants #wildflowers #texas #nature #waterislife

It’s amazing what a little water can do. #circleacres has sprung back to life after months of intense heat and drought. #urbanwildlife #naturepreserve #restoration #waterislife #getoutside

Many thanks to #planetktexas for their generous support funding phase 1 of our #waterforwildlife project at #circleacres. Their support has allowed us to develop our natural springs to provide distributed year round access to water for the numerous species that inhabit our preserve. It has also allowed us to develop an irrigation infrastructure to help establish numerous species of native plants that would not have made it through this hot, dry spell on their own. The ponds are absolutely buzzing with life. We are looking forward to expanding this project in the years to come. #cleanwaterislife

Happy #arborday y’all. Here’s another look at some of the magnificent trees in #roygguerreropark. Let’s help ensure future generations will know them too. The bends in some of these trees were likely sculpted by Native Americans when they were young #saplings. The ones I found all point to springs and the large one bent in two was typical of #Comanche practices to mark important places. It sits on the bluff overlooking the old low water crossing of the Colorado. I’m told the crossing was part of the #chisolmtrail. Let’s not put bike tracks in its critical root zone. Special places deserve protection. @saveoursprings @sierraclubatx @austincityparks @cityofaustintexas #saveourheritagetrees #arborday #ancienttrees #markertrees

Let’s take all that excitement about #earthday and channel it towards something real. The #cityofaustin talks a good game about #landstewardship, protecting the #environment, and protecting our #urbanforest, but cut secret deals to destroy what few treasures we have left. These #heritageoaks and #wildlfower meadows are under serious #threat from a mountain bike trail. As are the numerous species of #urbanwildlife who call this stretch of #roygguerreropark home. The #springs below these magnificent #trees are also in danger of lasting negative impacts. The #leafcutterants who populate this stretch will have their homes destroyed, and their beneficial impacts on vegetation and water infiltration will be gone. Please contact @austincityparks and @austintexasgov and help stop this negative impact on our public parkland. #savethetrees #saveourwildlife #saveoursprings #bikeroutesarenotlandstewardship #ecologyaction #circleacres #stopgreenwashingaustin #whathappenedtocommunityinput

Thanks to #topgolfaustin for your top notch volunteers who joined us again to help mulch trails and dig ponds. Can’t wait to have y’all back out.

Many thanks to the @wholefoods employees who helped us mulch trails yesterday. And to @stedwardsu students who joined us in the cold for their #bigevent this past weekend to continue our efforts picking up trash from abandoned homeless camps in #roygguerropark. #ecologyactionatx #circleacres #conservation #litterabatement Help protect #heritagetrees

We made a lot of progress today on our continuing efforts to clean up #roygguerreropark. A few years ago, #ecologyactionatx expanded our successful clean up efforts at #circleacres further up our watershed on city parkland. Numerous abandoned homeless camps dot this area of the park. The lack of trails upland of the creek make for a rare stretch of peaceful land for numerous species of wildlife. It’s truly a treasure for the city and our #wildlife. Many thanks to @atxcampuslions and @texasquidditch for their tremendous efforts today. #cityofaustinparksandrecreation #austin #urbanwildlife #adoptacreek #litterabatement @austincityparks @austin_park_ranger

Dang y’all. Thanks so much to all our volunteers for making #ecoblitz 2018 our best yet. We picked up over 130 bags of trash, 10 tires, chairs, barrels, and more. Thanks to @ut.asme for the tackling trash gulley, @keepaustinbeautiful for the supplies and promo, malcom for the grabber-jammers, @mycoalliance, and all the other volunteers. #friendsofguerreropark #adoptacreek #circleacres #ecologyactionatx #litterabatement #montopolis #guerreroparkaustin

Join us this Saturday for our annual #ecoblitz event and help clean up #guerreropark and #circleacres nature preserve. We’ll be meeting in the first parking lot in the park from the grove entrance and breaking in to groups. Last year we took out over 60 bags of trash. We can top that this year. We will meet at 9am and go until 12:30. Please bring your own water and snacks if you need them. We’ll have gloves, trash bags and grabbers to share. Hope to see you there.

We’re looking forward to a great 2018. A big thanks to all the volunteers and organizations who helped our #restoration work this past year at #circleacres nature preserve. We’ve accomplished more than we thought possible and are rolling in to the new year ready to make big strides towards our #conservation and #environmentaleducation goals. Stay tuned for more news and events later in the month. #ecologyaction #urbannature #environmentaljustice #remediation #wildlifesanctuary #nativeplants #montopolis #austin #ecology #regeneration #biodiversity

Many thanks to @texasconservationcorps for their tremendous work helping to clean up #circleacres. As part of a City of #Austin #urbanforest grant #txcc spent three days on site clearing downed trees and invasive species. We’re well on our way to planting nearly 100 #trees this winter. We want to thank @wildflowercenter and texas wild and native seeds for plant donations, @balconesresources for woodchips, #theymightbemonkeys for great tree work, and #hillcountrynatives for well grown young trees. More news to come... #urbanecology #regeneration #arboretum #montopolis #ecologyaction

What a difference a few days makes. So glad winter made an appearance this year. Big thanks to volunteers from #oracle who came out first thing this morning and helped work on the trails in the #snow. #circleacres #ecologyaction #naturepreserve #winterinaustin

Lots of critters are digging the new trough ponds at #circleacres. This #greentreefrog #hylacinerea seen here hanging on native #aquatic plants is really enjoying the new habitat. We take water from a natural seep and run it through a low tech, low cost #biofilter to reduce the high amount of nitrates. The cleaned water is then used in these tanks to provide habitat and drinking water for wildlife. If you'd like to support our project and help us expand #waterforwildlife please consider becoming a member of #ecologyactionatx. Link in bio.

Got the trails back open thanks to an awesome #volunteer crew. We cleared the last of the large trees that fell on our main trail during the storm. There is still a lot of debris around so still use caution if you come by for a hike. #circleacres #ecologyaction #urbanforest #urbannature #restorationecology #planttrees

#harvey brought down close to 30 trees at #circleacres. The preserve will be closed to the public until further notice as our main trail is impassible. If you would like to help with clearing debris please contact me @soilmagic. The good news is that almost all the trees that came down were already planned to come down due to failure risk. All of the old trees on site are fine. Only shallow rooted chinaberry and hackberry trees fell over. Their sudden absence will make space for stouter and deeper rooted trees like cedar elm, oaks, and cottonwoods to fill in the gaps in the canopy. #urbanforest #stewardship #ecologyaction #restoration #conservation #circleoflife